appell



(No Model.) 2 sheets-'sheet '1.

' J. F. APPELL.

DESK.

Patented Nov.y 10,` 1885.A

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J. F. APPELL.

DESK.

No. 329,992. Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICEo JOHN F. APPELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentI N0. 329,992, dated November 10, 1885.

Application filed October 18, 1884. Serial No. 145,808.

To aZZ whom, it may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. APPELL, of Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Desks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved construction in desks,more particularly intended for the use of book-keepers, whereby a movable top is afforded for supporting a number of books, said top being adapted to move in such manner that either one of the books thereon may be brought to one point upon the desk and adjacent to a stationary support adapted to sustain a book or papers in convenient position for posting into the books upon the said movable top.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan View of a desk constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a plan view of another form of desk embodying my invention, the upper parts thereof being in horizontal section. Fig. 4 is a side view of the desk shown in Fig. 3, a portion thereof being in section.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, A is the main body or supporting part of the desk, which is of generally circular form and provided with a central open space of sufficient size to admit a seat for the person using the desk.

Bis a separate annular flat top, which is supported upon the top A by suitable rollers, C, shown in the said figures as mounted in suitable bearings upon the frame A and adapted to permit the free rotary movement of the top upon the desk-body.

In the particular construction shown in the said figures the top is provided upon its under side with two circular strips or rails, b b, which are grooved in their lower surfaces, and two corresponding sets of rollers, C C, are attached to the desk-frame, and are adapted to engage the grooves of the strips and to there- (No model.)

by hold the top from lateral displacement, th'e grooves preferably being made of V shape and the peripheries of the rollers similarly formed to t the grooves.

The body A is preferably left open at one point, as indicated at A', to give access to the interior space of the desk, and the top B is preferably also provided with a hinged section or door, B', which may be folded back y upon the adjacent part of the table, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, when the latter is turned so as to bring said door above the space A', and thereby form a passage-way to the inner space ofthe desk.

At one side of the desk, constructed as above described, is placed a stationary platform or board, D, which is sustained from the deskbody by suitable supports at some distance above the top B, and is preferably made adjustable as to its height above the top and inclined downwardly toward the interior of the desk. The object of this stationary platform is to afford a support for a book from which it is desired to post into other books upon the rotating top B,or a book or paper in which it is desired to make extracts from a number of books placed upon the said top, the said platform being placed above the top at a suffe cient distance therefrom to permit books upon the top to pass freely beneath it.

As shown in Figs. l and 2, also, the desk is provided with a stationary part or top, A, upon the same plane as the top B, and which is, as shown, sustained by the body A, but which may be upheld upon suitable brackets extended outwardly from said body or otherwise, as desired. This stationary part A2 is 'to afford a place for ink and other writing materials, or may serve as a receptacle for books and papers.

As a convenient means of adjustably supporting the platform D, when the construction above described is used, two vertical standards or posts, E E, are secured in the upper surface of the part A2 of the desk,adja cent to its inner margin,upon which the outer end of the platform may be supported by any suitable connecting device, and the said platform is provided upon its inner margin with two downwardly-projecting arms, D' D', extending around the inner margin of the top B and connected with the desk-frame below said IOC top. As a simple means of connecting the platform D with the posts E, said posts, as herein shown, are provided with a series of equidistant opposite notches, e, which are en- ,gaged by studs or projections d upon the platformD. The lower ends of the arms D', by which the inner edge of the platform D is supported, may be conveniently supported upon the desk-frame by means of laterally-projecting lugs or pins d on the lower ends of the arms D', adapted to engage any one of a series of notches, f, formed in two metal plates, F, attached to the vertical inner face of the said frame.

The desk body orframe is, as herein shown, constructed with inner and outer side walls,a and a', and is provided with drawers and compartments in the manner of an ordinary desk. The form ofthe said frame is by no means essential, however, and an open frame-work or one formed by suitable supporting-legs and connecting-pieces affording suitable supports for the rollers C may be used equally well in carrying out my invention.

It is obviously not essential that the desk should be provided with a central open space within which the user thereof sits or stands, and the stationary platform D may be arranged at an outward inclination, and the user sit or stand at the outside of the circular top. In the latter case a circular elevated case may be located upon the desk-frame over the central opening of the annular top, to serve as a receptacle for books. This construction is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, in which a central case, G, is provided with a number of outwardly-opening compartments, g, to contain the books to be used upon the desk. The lower part of the desk-body may also be inclosed and contain compartments for books; but, as shown in Fig. 4, the desk is supported upon an open-work frame composed of legs H and suitable cross-pieces, h h.

In the particular construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the annular top B is outwardly and downwardly inclined, so that the books thereon may be more conveniently reachedl and inspected, the inclination of the top being conveniently made about the same as that of the platform D.

Ihe top shown in Figli, instead of being provided with two annular, supporting or bearing strips, as is the case in the construc-Y tion.v of the top shown in Figs. lv and 2, is formed with a single strip, b', preferably arranged near its outer edge, and the deskframe is provided with a corresponding strip, I, the adjacent surfaces of the said strips b and I being grooved and adapted to receivea series of balls or spherical rollers, i', by which the said top is supported,and which permit a free rotary movement thereof.

The legs H, as shown in the drawings, are preferably arranged in alignment with and are extended upwardly to form the framepiece of the outer walls of the case G, and the circular strip I is supported from said legs H by means of brackets I. By this construction the desk is made compact in form and attractive in appearance. v

When the desk is arranged with a closed center, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the central compartment or case, G, may of course be dispensed with and a central iiat surface or top used in its place to hold ink, papers, Snc. In the use of such central flat top the part of the desk below the top may be conveniently inclosed and used as a receptacle for books, the inclosed part either being of the same diameter as the case G, as shown, or of the same size as the outside of the top, as found desirable or convenient.

YOther means than those herein shown may obviously be used for rotatably supporting the annular top with the same results as hereinbefore set forth-as, for instance, the top may be sustained upon a central pivot xed inthe desk-frame in a well-known manner.

The essential feature of my invention is the annular top adapted to rotate, so as to enable any one of a number of books to be brought in front of the place at which the user sits or stands; and my invention as herein claimed is not, therefore, limited, except in the spe-y cific claims, to the particular means herein shown for rotatably supporting the said top, but is intended to cover, broadly, a rotatable top, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, with the stationary frame of a desk, of an annular rotatable top and a stationary platform, D, supported from the desk-frame above said top, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. rIhe combination, with the stationary frame of a desk, of an annular rotatable top, a stationary platform located above the said IOO top, and adjustable supports for sustaining v said platform from the frame.

3. The combination, with the frame of a desk, of an annular rotatable top, a platform, D, provided with pins d and arms D and notched standards E, and notched plates F upon the frame, adapted for the engagement of the said pins and arms, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I'claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOI-1N F.' APPELL.

lVitnesses:

C. CLARENCE POOLE, W. J. OsGooD.

IIO 

